Monday, August 01, 2005

Every now and then. . .

I rode out to my uncle's house with my brother to just kind of hang out while he checked out my uncle's motorcycle (bad starter solenoid). Back before my car accident, which left me with a crushed wrist, my uncle would always ask me when I was planning on coming by to visit and play the guitar. Of course, for the past several years, there was no point in asking since I couldn't play anymore. I still have extremely limited range of motion in my left hand, and up until very recently, I couldn't even bend my wrist enough to be able to reach all the strings on a guitar with my fingers.

I'd tried playing a few times over the years whenever visiting a friend who owned a guitar -- I've always had trouble keeping my hands off them -- but, I quickly put them back down when I found that I just wasn't physically capable of playing any longer. I'd just about given up on the idea of ever playing one again, which was an extreme disappointment to me. One of my great small pleasures in life was the fact that, if I ever found myself bored or stuck in a rut, I could always pick up the guitar and work on a song I liked a lot, or try to learn a new one. In that sense, the ability to play even just a little bit is a gift that constantly renews itself.

It's also the one thing I've missed most since I had the wreck. So, to be able to play again after years of thinking I'd never do it again is a bit of a milestone.

Sunday, July 31, 2005

Tavis Smiley wants to contribute. . .

. . .to a more intelligent, inclusive national dialogue. He apparently thinks that such dialogue is missing from today's public airwaves, and feels that the Center for Public Broadcasting can provide it with the help of "folk" like himself. In fact, Tavis seems to want to abandon the whole notion of ideological balance, calling instead for diversity in this piece appearing in the Washington Post.

Aside from the utterly asinine assertion that he is neither liberal nor conservative, I find it most ironic that Smiley would deem himself fit to call for more intelligent, inclusive discussion on television. After all, it's been several years, but I distinctly remember watching him on one of the mid-day political chat shows on CNN, appearing with Michael Reagan discussing a topic I don't recall, wherein he took a cheap shot at Ronald Reagan's condition, mocking his ability to remember things.

It showed me forever what a classless dirtbag Smiley really is, and ever since, it's been no secret that I would have quite a chuckle should his body someday be found beneath the wheels of a garbage truck.

"Of course I support. . .

. . .a woman's right to choose. I just happen to believe that the choice is wrong, and if you try to silence me, then you are being unpatriotic and disrespecting my free speech rights guaranteed in the Constitution."

That's the logic applied by the left when it comes to "supporting our troops" but opposing the war. By playing the "right to dissent" card, the left try to have it both ways -- being supportive while opposing the entire operation.

So, how come protesting the practice of abortion is automatically an indicator that someone is "anti-choice," while protesting a war doesn't necessarily mean that you're protesting the troops? It seems the difference between the left and the right is the right is willing to own up to being "anti-choice," while the left doesn't want to own up to being "anti-war" in any real, meaningful sense.